From November 4, 2022 post
In case you missed it, talk radio host Jimmy Sengenberger wrote an op-ed in The Denver Gazette exposing Michael Bennet's “tax the rich” hypocrisy.
Read the full op-ed here.
See the highlights below:
On Michael Bennet's Tax Hypocrisy
In September, Bennet joined several colleagues in a strongly worded letter. He griped that “many of America’s largest and most profitable corporations have paid far less than the statutory federal tax rate, or even nothing at all.” He has also called for a “crackdown on tax avoidance…so all wealthy taxpayers pay their fair share.”
In 2020 Bennet tweeted, “Hard-working Americans — nurses, teachers, firefighters, and other essential workers — pay more in taxes than (President Donald Trump). Everything is just another opportunity to cut corners, enriching himself at the expense of everyone else.” With an estimated wealth of $15 million and an annual income of $609,762 in 2018 — his most recent data released when he ran for president — Bennet has paid far less than the statutory 37% rate that his income bracket falls into. His effective tax rate was less than half at 17%.
This isn’t illegal. Like Trump and those corporations, Bennet simply uses the tax code to his financial advantage. As a capitalist, I don’t begrudge him for using his savvy and sophisticated private-sector investment background to his financial advantage. The problem comes when Bennet criticizes businesses or other politicians for doing exactly what he does.
Bennet says he supports banning congressional stock trades and requiring all members of Congress to hold their assets in a qualified blind trust. In his last debate against Joe O’Dea, Bennet implied he is legally restricted from putting his own investments in a blind trust. This is flatly false. As I reported Oct. 21, there are six U.S. senators who already have investments in a blind trust. Michael Bennet just isn’t one of them. Again, I don’t begrudge Bennet for investing his own money how he sees fit, so long as it’s properly disclosed. But he has staked his political career on expelling financial self-dealing and thwarting corporate mischief in American politics. Meanwhile, Bennet enriched himself at the expense of Puerto Rico — investing in a hedge fund that successfully bet the island would go bankrupt and banking him roughly $1 million.
Original source can be found here
